


the sacred simplicity of you at my side

by nebulia



Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But whatever, Families of Choice, Gen, major character death is not exactly accurate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-11
Updated: 2012-12-11
Packaged: 2017-11-20 21:19:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/589746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebulia/pseuds/nebulia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They work so hard, in dreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the sacred simplicity of you at my side

**Author's Note:**

> Written in 2009, for round 5 at [dimension_shop](dimension-shop.livejournal.com), originally posted [here](http://dimension-shop.livejournal.com/39602.html#comments). If I recall correctly, it was written before the time skip, but as or just after Watanuki took over the shop. Title was originally "Creation," but I didn't like that, so this is from Vienna Teng's "Eric's Song."

She created two of them, because she knew how it felt to be lonely.  
  
\--  
  
It's always been them. Moro and Maru. Maru and Moro.  
  
\--  
  
They were never born but made, and when they opened their eyes for the first time they were side by side on a rug, facing each other.  
  
 _moro,_ Maru said.  
  
 _maru,_ Moro said.  
  
They grasped hands.  
  
\--  
  
The first thing they knew was the shop, its every nook and cranny, its little quirks and oddities.  
  
The second thing they knew was each other.  
  
The third thing they knew was Mistress, who was kind and gentle and wise. She was the rest of them, everything they needed that wasn’t each other.  
  
Later, they learned there was more to the world, but it wasn’t important like they were, like Mistress was, like the shop. It was just there.  
  
\--  
  
 _mistress smokes lazily on the lounge. moro and maru play in the corner, with two dolls that were payment the other day._  
  
 _“moro, maru,” mistress says. there is a smile on her face, like a cat’s. “a customer is coming.”_  
  
 _“a customer! a customer!” it’s always exciting when a customer comes. they jump up and run to the door._  
  
 _“girls,” mistress calls. her smile widens. “this one is special.”_  
  
\--  
  
So they have Mistress, and then they have Watanuki-kun, and Mokona, and the quiet boy, but even when the others are gone, it's always, always them. Even when they sleep, together, dreaming, it's the two of them.  
  
Moro is Maru and Maru is Moro.  
  
Once they were watching the television with Mistress, a show with people talking about identical twins, people born at the same time and look exactly alike. How sometimes identical twins can tell when the other is hurt or sad. Like they know what they're thinking.  
  
It is surprising, because they never realized it was unusual. They are Moro and Maru, and Moro is Maru and Maru is Moro, but Moro is also Moro and Maru is still Maru. They just know what the other is thinking. They even think in unison, sometimes.  
  
They are separate, but perhaps only to each other. The have two minds, but they share them.  
  
\--  
  
 _“watanuki-kun! watanuki-kun!”_  
  
 _“what is it!? I’m busy.”_  
  
 _“we have something for you!” moro says, and thrusts her bouquet forward. “i picked these out for the side of the kitchen with the refrigerator!”_  
  
 _maru presses her bouquet into the other hand. “i picked mine to go on top of the dishwasher!”_  
  
 _“do you like them, watanuki-kun? do you? do you?”_  
  
 _he smiles at them, and goes to get vases. some of the tension in his shoulders vanishes. “they’re beautiful. thank you. i like them a lot.”_  
  
 _they clasp hands and smile._  
  
\--  
  
They do work hard, when they have to. It doesn’t seem that way because they like to play and laugh, but they do work hard. It is the most important thing to them. More than Mistress, more even than each other. They build, and hold, and fortify. It is tiring work and so they sleep while they do it. Everything is easier in dreams.  
  
They have working songs. They make them up, little hop-skip tunes that remind them of Watanuki or low steady ones like the quiet boy. Sometimes they swing like Mistress and Mokona after too much alcohol. They once made a bouncy song like the bad-luck girl's hair.  
  
When they sing the working-songs, they stay in step, together, keeping things away and fixing holes in the fabric of the dimensions. The shop is theirs and they work hard to keep it that way.  
  
The shop is Mistress', too, but only because she asked and so they let her have it.  
  
\--  
  
They were never able to leave and it never bothered them. What did they need that they did not have?  
  
\--  
  
 _mistress is talking with watanuki-kun and the quiet boy is on the porch drinking tea alone, so they join him._  
  
 _“it is good you can enter the shop now.” maru sits next to him and takes his hand._  
  
 _“mm-hmm, very good! it makes watanuki-kun and mistress happy!” moro takes his other hand._  
  
 _the quiet boy smiles, a little._  
  
 _“don’t be lonely,” moro whispers._  
  
 _“don’t be lonely,” maru says._  
  
 _“i’ll try not to be,” the quiet boy tells them. he squeezes their fingers a little bit._  
  
\--  
  
It grows difficult to hold the shop together. They sleep more and longer and harder and fight, now, creatures that seek to destroy the shop, or Mistress, or sometimes even Watanuki. They win, always they win, but it is hard.  
  
They do not wake often. There is no time to be awake, to play and read and giggle. No time to tease Watanuki-kun or watch the television with Mistress. No time for anything but protecting, and that is the first thing that must be done. They have to keep the shop safe no matter what.  
  
\--  
  
They are not naïve, not really. They are innocent, childlike, but that does not mean they do not grow. It does not mean they do not learn. They are always learning.  
  
They learn, or perhaps they realize, eventually, that they fight a losing battle.  
  
That does not mean they will stop.  
  
\--  
  
Mistress awakens them.  
  
They are so tired. Moro reaches out and clasps Maru’s hand. Their fingers intertwined. _i am tired,_ Maru thinks, and Moro knows. _me too._  
  
“I have to release you soon,” she says. “Before you disappear entirely.”  
  
They don’t understand.  
  
She kisses them, one by one, on the forehead, and then the cheeks. “Be good,” she says, and her eyes glitter like rubies.  
  
They go back to sleep, hands still clasped, and fight again.  
  
\--  
  
They have always known when Mistress comes and goes, and they feel her leave but it’s something they barely notice now. They are working, too fast even to make a song to pass the time. Something is building, they can feel it, but don’t stop to find out what it is. They can’t stop. They _won’t_ stop.  
  
It’s pressure, getting heavier and heavier and harder and harder and then it snaps.  
  
And, out of nowhere, nothing.  
  
\--  
  
The shop shudders and seems to vanish for a moment, before reappearing just as it did before and Watanuki’s knuckles are white around the pipe. Doumeki leans his head back against the wall.  
  
It is as though some kind of life has left the shop. It feels empty.  
  
\--  
  
They work so hard, in dreams.


End file.
